Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1887-11-24

vessels and boats engaged in catching
oyzssrs. The adjaeeni land also pre-
senied esideaee of its prolific soil, BY
the numerous shock Of corn in sight
Afaer performing the duty Of supply
lug the police schooner with ammuni
ton, &c, We shaped our course for tht
Choptank, by steaming around Poplar
Island and passing through a narrow
strait between Sharp's Islaui and the
main land of Talbot county, entering
an extensive expanse Ct water, into
which the CLaptAnk empties.
The scene here impressed me with
the first practsal idea (which va:
Tvunirmsu py subseq AenT revelation
of the immense magnitude Of the oys.
ter industry. Hundreds Of vessels
could be seen al a glance, the smaller
OF which, called scrapers, operate un.
der the authority from the county OF
which they are citizens, and within a
prescribed distance from the shore.
The larger and more numerous class,
called dredgers, are licensed bv the
State. They were apparently divided
into fleets or squadrons when working
on the different oyster beds. There
fore it did not require a great stretch
of the imagination to picture TO the
eve hostile fleets bearing down on
each other or manmuvering Tor an ad-
vantageous position. In addition to
the sailing vessels there were immense
number of canoes and other small boats
engaged in tonging on tie bars in
shoal water. Ia fact the entire sur-
face Of the water presented a scene OF
animation and industry without par
allel outside the Chesapeake.
After supplying the sloop Mamie
Morrison" the guardian of the law on
this station, we steamed through
Hooper's Straits, which brought US 10
Tsngier Sound, the favorite feeding
grounds of the arlstocratic .amily Of
oysters-that is, If the definition Of
the word means high ordsr-they
are certainly entitled to the aprella-
ton, Judging by persona. experience.
II therefore naturally follows that it
is also a favorite dredging ground.
The scene here was fac sim ,e Of that
"Itures~o al the yu"EU1uN Na'-Ier
with the addition that the number OF
vessels was much greater, owning to
the greater exrrnse OF water N Ian
gier Sound. Ii Eastern Bay vii. bear
a comparison wi'h the Adri.iic, this
beautiful and prolific eXpaLse Of wa
ter, partially land locked arl embel-
lished with veldant and productive
islands, will not suffer in a practical
view from a comparison with another
portion of the Medlterranean-the
Grecian Archipelago, to which il bears
a striking resemblance in outline.
Her islands may not bear such hi>to
rical and classic names as De.os, -Esi-
na, Scio or Salamis, yet they are equal
ly as beautiful and far more pIcduc-
tive. The classic -Egean Sea may
have borne upon It's waters aeets and
argosies freighted with the tropics and
emblems of war desolation. The wa
tiers of Tangier bears fleets iteisLted
with the emb!ems aud essentials Of
life and happiness.
After a considerable search We sue
ceedsd in finding the two police boats,
Bessie Woolford ana Julia Ham.l-
top," one of which was several miles
up the Wicomico, a tributary TO the
Sound, which also presente; iudubi-
table evidence Of the wealth beneath
its waters. After supplying the
State boats with their ammunition,
Sc, We steered through Cages Straits
aud struck a bee-line for tie mouth
of the Potomac river, to look at;el
Maryland's interests in that quarter
The law regulating the oyster fishery
in the Potomac Is Joint measure ol
compact with Virginia, permitting
the citizens Of both states to catcl
oysters therein, each State issuing Ii
censes to its citizens.
We found over one hundred sail o
dredgers at work in violation Of tn
law: but upon examining their licen
ses, the wording OF which Were 30 am
biguous, it would have been unjust {
arrest them. Commander Plowmar
therefore, notified them to deS.st, whic
they did, and the entire ieet, owe
owe hundred sail, shaped their cours
for Cone river, in Virginia. Fac
vessel with every sail drawing-th
wind on their quarter and a. niue
as they could stagger undey-the ( al
flying in snowy wreaths f,on the
bows, their masts bending and creaI
ing with every plunge in the viii